I Do Haiku!

Today's challenge for those participating in the Blogathon Challenge is to post haiku poems. I got interested in haiku a few years ago at a writer's conference after a presentation by a poet from New York who writes contemporary haiku. Elaine Holoboff started a project which I followed until she stopped posting a new haiku each day. You can still read the ones she posted (over 350 of them) here.

Thanks to Elaine, I have written several haiku poems but still rate myself as a rank amateur. However, for the sake of today's challenge, I'll post a few of them here. 

In Monet’s garden--

glorious burst of color

a balm to my soul

feather floats softly

on gentle autumn breeze

bird flies, loss unknown

gravestones in France

all weep tears of anguish

senseless deaths, futile war

Grandma starts to text

media blitz, headline news

old dog learns new trick

Europe Without A Passport

I'm Program Chairman for my PEO chapter, a woman's philanthropic organization which supports education for women. My committee met this summer and lined up programs from October through June. Our first meeting of the new year is this morning, so about ten days ago I tried to get in touch with the woman responsible for this one. Long story short, I didn't reach her until late yesterday afternoon and then discovered that we have no program for today. A snafu. A miscommunication. A misunderstanding. It doesn't matter how or why. The important thing was that I had no program that was to be given in less than 24 hours.

Suddenly, I was very happy to be a writer who has files of stories on hand. I've given programs for this group a few times, and they've always gone over well, so why not one more? But it should be on a theme of some sort, I thought. Our PEO theme for the year is Destination:  PEO. Travel came to mind. My travel stories popped into my head next so I began to look through the ones I had.

I selected three travel article/stories and 1 poem. I plan to open the program telling the ladies that we are going to Europe this morning, but they won't need a passport. They won't need a suitcase. They won't need any euros either.

The first story takes place in Lahr, Germany and is titled "Grandpa's Town" The picture above is of my husband, Ken, in Lahr, the town where his paternal grandfather grew up. Next, I'll take them to Ireland via "Kissing The Blarney Stone."  Back to Germany with "A Hungarian Hotel In Germany" which won first place in the Feature Article category in the Kansas Authors state contest this year. And finally, I'll read a poem that was inspired by our visit to Monet's home and garden in Giverny, France. It's called "In Monet's Garden." One of the women asked me if I'd do a program with poetry sometime, so this one's for Sue.

You can read "Grandpa's Town" at http://www.ourecho.com/story-5240-Grandpa-s-Town.shtml
and "Kissing The Blarney Stone" at  http://www.ourecho.com/story-4862-Kissing-The-Blarney-Stone.shtml

The moral of the story is to always have a back-up plan. This time, I was fortunate in being able to provide something at the last minute. I hope I don't have to do it again because I have few other talents. Can't sing. Can't dance. I write and that's about it for talent.

On A Poetry Kick Again

Every now and then, I get an urge to write poetry. Over the years, I've learned to listen to urges like that. My muse speaks loud and clear at times, while other times she's off taking a nap in some corner of my house. I can call and call to her, and she sleeps blissfully on. But when she wakes and begins to whisper sweet things to me, we're a formidable team.

When we were in France a few weeks ago, we visited Monet's House and Garden in Giverny, an hour and a half north of Paris. It's located in the heart of France's dairy country. The garden proved to be one of the most enchanting places I've been. I almost resented having to share it with other tourists. I wanted to be there all alone to savor the countless colorful blooms and green plants, shrubs and trees, as well as the famed lily pond Monet created.

The visit has been on my mind ever since we returned, so I knew I wanted/needed to write about it. But what? Would it be a travel essay? An article for a garden publication? Or a poem? Poem kept coming back to me while I emptied the dishwasher, folded laundry or watered the patio pots. It seems writers minds are never far away from writing.

The poem turned out to be a prose/poem that has several verses. I subbed it to my critique group to get a reaction and see what suggestions for improvement they might offer. The response proved to be helpful as I had a good number of critiques. Every one had good things to say and they also had suggestions where a word here and there bothered them. They suggested adding a bit more sensory detail.

Last night, I worked on the poem incorporating many of the suggestions given. I'm going to read it again this morning and see how it strikes me. Most likely, I'll change a few more words or lines before I'm satisfied and can call it finished. Once it's done, I may start working on a travel essay about Monet's Garden. I'm having a hard time letting go of this highlight of our visit to France. If you'd like to know more about Monet's Garden, go to http://giverny.org/gardens/